Exporting X permissions when su'ing to another user...

[Tobias Heinemann]

 >>>Although sudo is the preferred method in Ubuntu for privileged users to
 >>>gaim root privileges, there are times when su is a better choice.  (For
 >>>example, when running as another user.)
 >>
 >>Whats the problem with 'sudo -i -u joe' to get a shell as user joe?
 >>X11 apps do work this way.
 >
 > As Abel wrote previously, this doesn't work for me.  The DISPLAY
 > environment variable isn't set, and when I do set it (to :0.0...  should
 > it be something else?) I don't have permissions.

You need to grant joe temporary access to your X server:

   xhost +local:joe at localhost
   sudo -u joe xclock
   xhost -local:joe at localhost


Regards,
Tobi